Destination inconsistency judgement apparatus and destination inconsistency correction apparatus, destination inconsistency judgement method and destination inconsistency correction method, and medium recorded with destination inconsistency judgement program and destination inconsistency correction program, in store-and-forward type of electronic conference system

ABSTRACT

A destination inconsistency judgment apparatus, a destination inconsistency judgment method, and a medium recorded with a destination inconsistency judgment program are provided, in which a destination-information designating an information-exchange-destination is compared with a transmitter-information included in a transmitted exchangee-information, and it is judged that an inconsistency has occurred in the destination-information when the destination-information and transmitter-information are inconsistent with each other. Further, a destination inconsistency correction apparatus, a destination inconsistency correction method, and a medium recorded with a destination inconsistency correction program are provided, in which the transmitter-information is added, as the destination-information, when it is judged that an inconsistency has occurred in the destination-information.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system, and particularly to a technique for automaticallyjudging or correcting, when occurred, an inconsistency indestination-information which specifiesinformation-exchange-destinations.

RELATED ART OF THE INVENTION

Generally, an “electronic conference system” designates or specifiesthose systems constituted for information-exchange between unspecifiednumber of users. In a large-scale electronic conference system, theusers of the electronic conference system are registered at each ofgeographically separated areas (hereinafter called “site”). Theregistered user can use only the site at which he has been registered.

In such an electronic conference system, there is generally adopted astore-and-forward type of communication system, such as in view oftransmission speed of communication lines connecting between the sites.That is, the information generated at each of the sites is once storedinto a transmission queue which stores informations to be transmitted,and then collectively or batch transmitted at each of a predeterminedtime of period. The information received at each sites other than thetransmitting sites is once stored into a reception queue for storingreceived informations, and then processed by that background which hasprocessing ability to spare.

Typically, electronic conference systems utilize those unit containersnamed “forum”. Further, each of forums is registered with adestination-information of the site destined to conductinformation-exchange. For example, when information-exchange is to beconducted between forums A of sites A, B and C, the forum A of the siteA is registered with the sites B and C as destination-information, andso are the sites A and C for the forum A of site B as well as the sitesA and B for the forum A of site C, respectively. As such, wheninformation is generated in site A, the information is transmitted toappropriate ones of sites B and C, based on the destination-informationregistered in the forum A of site A.

Meanwhile, those destination-informations registered in forums of eachsites may be modified by addition or deletion ofinformation-exchange-destination. For example, when the forum A of siteA is demanded to conduct information-exchange with the forum A of site Bunder such a situation that the sites A and B have not been mutuallyexchanging information, there is given a due notice from the site A tothe site B. At the site B which receives the notice, the address of siteA is added into the destination-information of the forum A of site B.Conversely, when the forum A of site A is demanded to ceaseinformation-exchange with the forum A of site B under such a situationthat the sites A and B have been mutually exchanging information, thereis given a due notice from the site A to the site B. At the site B whichreceives the notice, the address of site A is deleted from thedestination-information of the forum A of site B.

However, in such an electronic conference system that adopts thestore-and-forward type of communication system, the modification ofdestination-information at the forum of each sites may not be reflectedto the other sites in a real time manner, resulting in an inconsistencyof destination-information. For example, while the information-exchangesare being conducted between forums A of sites A, B and C, thedestination-information about forums A may be lost due to a certaincause (for example, cut-off of power such as due to power failure) inthe site A. Then may occur such a situation that thedestination-information in the forum A of site A is recovered based onthe contents of a recovery disk, but the destination-information at theforum A of site A includes only the site B, due to the oldness of thecontents of the recovery disk. Namely, the destination-information offorum A at site A includes the site B only, whereas thedestination-information of forum A at site C is registered with the siteA. Then arises such an inconsistency that the site C transmitsinformation to the site A whereas the site A does not transmitinformation to the site C.

In the conventional technique, it has been difficult to find out such adestination inconsistency even when it happened, resulting in such asituation that the administrator of the electronic conference systemcould not get aware of it for a long time. This situation is not soproblematical, insofar as the exchangee-information to be exchangedbetween each of the sites is not so important. However, the situationthat the information is not transmitted due to occurrence of destinationinconsistency, is problematic if the information is extremely importantor a prompt treatment is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforementioned problems in the conventional technique, itis therefore a purpose of the present invention to dissolve such adefect that the information to be transmitted is not transmitted, byautomatically judging or correcting an inconsistency in thedestination-information, when occurred.

It is another purpose of the present invention to distribute thosemediums which are recorded with the destination inconsistency judgmentprogram and those mediums which are recorded with the destinationinconsistency correction program, both according to the presentinvention, to thereby promote those persons, who have obtained suchmediums, to easily constitute, a destination inconsistency judgmentapparatus and a destination inconsistency correction apparatus.

A first solution for achieving the above purposes is constituted by adestination inconsistency judgment apparatus in a store-and-forward typeof electronic conference system in which exchangee-informations areexchanged, making use of a store-and-forward type of communicationsystem, between information administrating devices which administratevarious informations, respectively, the information exchange beingconducted based on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating devices, wherein theexchangee-information to be exchanged between the informationadministrating devices includes a transmitter-information designatingthe information administrating device which transmitted theexchangee-information, and the apparatus comprises a destinationinconsistency judgment device for judging, based on thedestination-information and the transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in the destination-information or not.

Concretely, the destination inconsistency judgment device may beconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information, when the destination-information isinconsistent with the transmitter-information. Further, the informationadministrating device may be constituted to include an informationstoring device for storing various informations and an input-outputcontrol device for controlling input-and-output of information to andfrom the information storing device.

According to such a constitution, assuming that an information-exchangeis conducted between information administrating devices A and B, theinformation administrating device A preserves the informationadministrating device B, as a destination-information which designatesan information-exchange-destination. Contrary, the informationadministrating device B preserves the information administrating deviceA, as a destination-information which designates aninformation-exchange-destination. Under this situation, if thedestination-information designating the information-exchange-destination(i.e., information administrating device B) is lost at the informationadministrating device A due to a certain cause, any information is notthereafter transmitted to the information administrating device B fromthe information administrating device A. Even under such a state, thereis transmitted an exchangee-information including thetransmitter-information, from the information administrating device B tothe information administrating device A. As such, at the informationadministrating device A, it is automatically judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the destination-information, based on thedestination-information (no destinations are included, in this case)preserved in the information administrating device A and thetransmitter-information (designating the information administratingdevice B, in this case) transmitted from the device B. Thus, theadministrator of the store-and-forward type of electronic conferencesystem can, at an early stage, find out an occurrence of destinationinconsistency, so that the maintenance therefor can be also performed atan early stage. As a result, there is decreased a possibility of such asituation that the information to be transmitted is not transmitted, sothat the reliability of the store-and forward type of electronicconference system can be considerably improved.

Further, the judgment on the destination inconsistency can be realizedin an extremely easy manner, since the destination inconsistencyjudgment device is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information, when thedestination-information is inconsistent with thetransmitter-information. Thus, there can be ultimately restrained anincrease in load to the system resources.

A second solution is constituted by a destination inconsistencycorrection apparatus in a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system in which exchangee-informations are exchanged, makinguse of a store-and-forward type of communication system, betweeninformation administrating devices which administrate variousinformations, respectively, the information exchange being conductedbased on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating devices, wherein theexchangee-information to be exchanged between the informationadministrating devices includes a transmitter-information designatingthe information administrating devices which transmitted theexchangee-information, and the apparatus comprises a destinationinconsistency judgment device for judging, based on thedestination-information and the transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in the destination-information or not, anda destination inconsistency correction device for correcting thedestination-information, based on the transmitter-information, when thedestination inconsistency judgment device has judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the destination-information.

Concretely, the destination inconsistency judgment device may beconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information, when the destination-information isinconsistent with the transmitter-information. The destinationinconsistency correction device may be constituted to add, as thedestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating device which is designated by thetransmitter-information. Further, the information administrating devicemay be constituted to include an information storing device for storingvarious informations and an input-output control device for controllinginput-and-output of information to and from the information storingdevice.

According to such a constitution, assuming that an information-exchangeis conducted between information administrating devices A and B, theinformation administrating device A preserves the informationadministrating device B, as a destination-information which designatesan information-exchange-destination. Contrary, the informationadministrating device B preserves the information administrating deviceA, as a destination-information which designates aninformation-exchange-destination. Under this situation, if thedestination-information designating the information-exchange-destination(i.e., information administrating device B) is lost at the informationadministrating device A due to a certain cause, any information is notthereafter transmitted to the information administrating device B fromthe information administrating device A. Even under such a state, thereis transmitted an exchangee-information including thetransmitter-information, from the information administrating device B tothe information administrating device A. As such, at the informationadministrating device A, it is automatically judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the destination-information, based on thedestination-information (no destinations are included, in this case)preserved in the information administrating device A and thetransmitter-information (designating the information administratingdevice B, in this case) transmitted from the device B. Further, thedestination-information is automatically corrected based on thetransmitter-information, when it is judged that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information. Thus, the maintenance of thestore-and-forward type of electronic conference system is expedited, andthere can be avoided such a situation that the information to betransmitted is not transmitted.

Further, the judgment on the destination inconsistency can be realizedin an extremely easy manner, since the destination inconsistencyjudgment device is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information, when thedestination-information is inconsistent with thetransmitter-information. Moreover, the correction of the destinationinconsistency can be extremely easily performed, since the destinationinconsistency correction device is constituted to add, as thedestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating device which is designated by thetransmitter-information. Thus, there can be ultimately restrained anincrease in load to the system resources.

A third solution is constituted by a destination inconsistency judgmentmethod in a store-and-forward type of electronic conference system inwhich exchangee-informations are exchanged, making use of astore-and-forward type of communication system, between informationadministrating processes which administrate various informations,respectively, the information exchange being conducted based on thosedestination-informations designating information-exchange-destinationswhich destination-informations are preserved in the informationadministrating processes, wherein the exchangee-information to beexchanged between the information administrating processes includes atransmitter-information designating the information administratingprocess which transmitted the exchangee-information, and the methodcomprises a destination inconsistency judgment process for judging,based on the destination-information and the transmitter-information, asto whether an inconsistency has occurred in the destination-informationor not.

Concretely, the destination inconsistency judgment process may beconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information, when the destination-information isinconsistent with the transmitter-information.

According to such a constitution, assuming that an information-exchangeis conducted between information administrating processes A and B, theinformation administrating process A preserves the informationadministrating process. B, as a destination-information which designatesan information-exchange-destination. Contrary, the informationadministrating process B preserves the information administratingprocess A, as a destination-information which designates aninformation-exchange-destination. Under this situation, if thedestination-information designating the information-exchange-destination(i.e., information administrating process B) is lost at the informationadministrating process A due to a certain cause, any information is notthereafter transmitted to the information administrating process B fromthe information administrating process A. Even under such a state, thereis transmitted an exchangee-information including thetransmitter-information, from the information administrating process Bto the information administrating process A. As such, at the informationadministrating process A, it is automatically judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the destination-information, based on thedestination-information (no destinations are included, here) preservedin the information administrating process A and thetransmitter-information (designating the information administratingprocess B, here) transmitted from the process B. Thus, the administratorof the store-and-forward type of electronic conference system can, at anearly stage, find out an occurrence of destination inconsistency, sothat the maintenance therefor can be also performed at an early stage.As a result, there is decreased a possibility of such a situation thatthe information to be transmitted is not transmitted, so that thereliability of the store-and forward type of electronic conferencesystem can be considerably improved.

Further, the judgment on the destination inconsistency can be realizedin an extremely easy manner, since the destination inconsistencyjudgment process is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information, when thedestination-information is inconsistent with thetransmitter-information. Thus, there can be ultimately restrained anincrease in load to the system resources.

A fourth solution is constituted by a destination inconsistencycorrection method in a store-and-forward type of electronic conferencesystem in which exchangee-informations are exchanged, making use of astore-and-forward type of communication system, between informationadministrating processes which administrate various informations,respectively, the information exchange being conducted based on thosedestination-informations designating information-exchange-destinationswhich destination-informations are preserved in the informationadministrating processes, wherein the exchangee-information to beexchanged between the information administrating processes includes atransmitter-information designating the information administratingprocess which transmitted the exchangee-information, and the methodcomprises a destination inconsistency judgment process for judging,based on the destination-information and the transmitter-information, asto whether an inconsistency has occurred in the destination-informationor not, and a destination inconsistency correction process forcorrecting the destination-information, based on thetransmitter-information, when the destination inconsistency judgmentprocess has judged that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information.

Concretely, the destination inconsistency judgment process may beconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information, when the destination-information isinconsistent with the transmitter-information. Further, the destinationinconsistency correction process may be constituted to add, as thedestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating process which is designated by thetransmitter-information.

According to such a constitution, assuming that an information-exchangeis conducted between information administrating processes A and B, theinformation administrating process A preserves the informationadministrating process B, as a destination-information which designatesan information-exchange-destination. Contrary, the informationadministrating process B preserves the information administratingprocess A, as a destination-information which designates aninformation-exchange-destination. Under this situation, if thedestination-information designating the information-exchange-destination(i.e., information administrating process B) is lost at the informationadministrating process A due to a certain cause, any information is notthereafter transmitted to the information administrating process B fromthe information administrating process A. Even under such a state, thereis transmitted an exchangee-information including thetransmitter-information, from the information administrating process Bto the information administrating process A. As such, at the informationadministrating process A, it is automatically judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the destination-information, based on thedestination-information (no destinations are included, here) preservedin the information administrating process A and thetransmitter-information (designating the information administratingprocess B, here) transmitted from the process B. Further, thedestination-information is automatically corrected based on thetransmitter-information, when it is judged that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information. Thus, the maintenance of thestore-and-forward type of electronic conference system is expedited, andthere can be avoided such a situation that the information to betransmitted is not transmitted.

Further, the judgment on the destination inconsistency can be realizedin an extremely easy manner, since the destination inconsistencyjudgment process is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information, when thedestination-information is inconsistent with thetransmitter-information. Moreover, the correction of the destinationinconsistency can be extremely easily performed, since the destinationinconsistency correction process is constituted to add, as thedestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating process which is designated by thetransmitter-information. Thus, there can be ultimately restrained anincrease in load to the system resources.

A fifth solution is constituted by a medium recorded with a destinationinconsistency judgment program in a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system in which exchangee-informations are exchanged, makinguse of a store-and-forward type of communication system, betweeninformation administrating functions which administrate variousinformations, respectively, the information exchange being conductedbased on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating functions, wherein theexchangee-information to be exchanged between the informationadministrating functions includes a transmitter-information designatingthe information administrating function which transmitted theexchangee-information, and the medium is recorded with a program forrealizing a destination inconsistency judgment function for judging,based on the destination-information and the transmitter-information, asto whether an inconsistency has occurred in the destination-informationor not.

In this respect, the term “medium” is readable such as onto paper card(punch card), paper tape, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, magnetic drum,CD-ROM, IC card, which can assuredly record various informations whichcan be assuredly read out if required.

Concretely, the destination inconsistency judgment function may beconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information, when the destination-information isinconsistent with the transmitter-information. Further, the informationadministrating function may be constituted to include an informationstoring function for storing various informations and an input-outputcontrol function for controlling input-and-output of information to andfrom the information storing function.

According to such a constitution, the exchangee-information to beexchanged between the information administrating functions includes thetransmitter-information designating the information administratingfunction which transmitted the exchangee-information. Further, themedium is recorded with the program for realizing the destinationinconsistency judgment function for judging, based on thedestination-information and the transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in the destination-information or not. Assuch, the destination inconsistency judgment program can be distributed,and those, who have obtained such a medium, can easily constitute adestination inconsistency judgment apparatus, making use of a generalelectronic computer system.

Further, the judgment on the destination inconsistency can be realizedin an extremely easy manner, since the destination inconsistencyjudgment function is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information, when thedestination-information is inconsistent with thetransmitter-information. Thus, there can be ultimately restrained anincrease in load to the system resources.

A sixth solution is constituted by a medium recorded with a destinationinconsistency correction program in a store-and-forward type ofelectronic conference system in which exchangee-informations areexchanged, making use of a store-and-forward type of communicationsystem, between information administrating functions which administratevarious informations, respectively, the information exchange beingconducted based on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating functions, wherein theexchangee-information to be exchanged between the informationadministrating functions includes a transmitter-information designatingthe information administrating function which transmitted theexchangee-information, and the medium is recorded with a program forrealizing a destination inconsistency judgment function for judging,based on the destination-information and the transmitter-information, asto whether an inconsistency has occurred in the destination-informationor not, and a destination inconsistency correction function forcorrecting the destination-information, based on thetransmitter-information, when the destination inconsistency judgmentfunction has judged that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information.

Concretely, the destination inconsistency judgment function may beconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information, when the destination-information isinconsistent with the transmitter-information. The destinationinconsistency correction function may be constituted to add, as thedestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating function which is designated by thetransmitter-information. Further, the information administratingfunction may be constituted to include an information storing functionfor storing various informations and an input-output control functionfor controlling input-and-output of information to and from theinformation storing function.

According to such a constitution, the exchangee-information to beexchanged between the information administrating functions includes thetransmitter-information designating the information administratingfunction which transmitted the exchangee-information. Further, themedium is recorded with the program for realizing: the destinationinconsistency judgment function for judging, based on thedestination-information and the transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in the destination-information or not; andthe destination inconsistency correction function for correcting thedestination-information, based on the transmitter-information, when thedestination inconsistency judgment function has judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the destination-information. As such, thedestination inconsistency correction program can be distributed, andthose, who have obtained such a medium, can easily constitute adestination inconsistency correction apparatus, making use of a generalelectronic computer system.

Further, the judgment on the destination inconsistency can be realizedin an extremely easy manner, since the destination inconsistencyjudgment function is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in the destination-information, when thedestination-information is inconsistent with thetransmitter-information. Moreover, the correction of the destinationinconsistency can be extremely easily performed, since the destinationinconsistency correction function is constituted to add, as thedestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating function which is designated by thetransmitter-information. Thus, there can be ultimately restrained anincrease in load to the system resources.

Further purposes, advantages and details of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following description of the preferredembodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an electronic conference systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a hierarchy structure of theforums in the system;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a hierarchy structure of themessages in the system;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the objects registered in a databasein the system;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an object ID for specifying theobject in the system;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of destination-informations forspecifying the information-exchange-destination, in the system;

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing a flow of information-exchangein the system;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart describing a process for editing objects;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart describing a process for creating objects;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart describing a process for deleting objects;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart describing a process for updating objects;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart describing a process for moving objects;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a necessity of the process formoving objects;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing a process for optimizing theinformation;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing a deletion process of a message on aqueue;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing a update process of a message on aqueue;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing a deletion process of a forum on aqueue;

FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing a update process of a forum on a queue;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a process for assuring informationsequence;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a process of a received information;

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing a process for checking a destinationinconsistency;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing a process for checking an inconsistencyof information contents;

FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing a process for registration into thedatabase;

FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing a process for updating a recoveryinformation;

FIG. 25 is a flow chart also showing a process for updating a recoveryinformation; and

FIG. 26 is a flow chart showing a recovery process.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in detail hereinafter, withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system architecture in which an electronic conferencesystem according to one embodiment of the present invention isconstituted between four sites A, B, C, and D which are geographicallyseparated from one another. Namely, the electronic conference system isattained by a client/server model in which the sites A, B, C and D areconnected to one another via communication line. Each of the servers andclients is constituted of an electronic computer which is provided withat least a central processing unit (CPU) and a suitable memory, andexecutes a program on the memory.

Each of the sites is constituted to include one server 10 (informationadministrating device, information administrating process, informationadministrating function), and at least one client 30. The sites aremutually connected via communication lines 40. The information-exchangebetween the sites are conducted by means of a store-and-forward type ofcommunication system, such as in view of a transmission speed of thecommunication line 40. Namely, the information occurred at the client 30of site A is not transmitted upon its occurrence towards sites B, C andD, but stored once for a while in site A and then batch transmitted ateach of a predetermined time of period.

Each of the servers 10 is constituted to include a database 12(information storing device, information storing process, informationstoring function), a server software 14, a command queue 16, atransmission queue 18, and a reception queue 20. Each server software 14is adapted for referring to and updating its accompanying database 12.Each command queue 16 stores the operational contents of informationoccurred within the accompanying site, each transmission queue 18 storesinformation to be transmitted to other sites, and each reception queue20 stores information received from other sites. These command queue 16,transmission queue 18 and reception queue 20 are constituted of fileswhich form FIFO (First In First Out) type of queues or waiting lines,respectively.

By means of programs, each server software 14 provides destinationinconsistency judgment device, destination inconsistency correctiondevice, input-output control device, destination inconsistency judgmentprocess, destination inconsistency correction process, input-outputcontrol process, destination inconsistency judgment function,destination inconsistency correction function, and input-output controlfunction.

Prepared in each database 12 are forums serving as units (containers)for conducting information-exchange. As shown in FIG. 2, forums can beconstituted in a hierarchy structure, in which the forum A at thehighest level is called “main forum” while each of remaining forums B1,B2, C is called “sub-forum”. The sub-forums can be created in a pluralmanner at the same level. For example, the forum B1 and forum B2 havebeen created at the same level.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the forums includes messages in a hierarchystructure. The message A at the highest level is called “topic”, and hasits subject (heading, or title) such as “About . . . ”. Each of othermessages B, C1, C2 and D are called “reply” which defines a response oranswer to a certain message. In this concern, it is possible to assign aplurality of replies to a certain message. In FIG. 3, the replies forthe message B are the messages C1 and C2.

Stored in the site, at which the forums are created, are original onesof the forums (original), while the duplications (replica) of the forumsare stored in other sites. The users of the forums in the electronicconference system are to perform a working job such as creation ofmessages for the forum (no matter whether this forum is an original or areplica), to which forum the users belong. The working jobs performedfor the forums are transmitted to other sites via communication line 40by means of the store-and-forward type of communication system, so as tobe reflected to the forums of the other sites. As such, there occurtime-wise lags between the contents of each sites.

For detailed explanation of the contents of database 12, FIG. 4 showsthat the database 12 includes a forum object 50, a message object 52, auser object 54 and a site object 56. Each of these objects is assignedwith an object ID (identification number) which is unique in the wholeof the electronic conference system. Namely, the object ID is determinedby a combination of a unique server ID, which is uniquely established inthe whole of the electronic conference system, and a unique object ID,which is uniquely assigned to each object in each site. As shown in FIG.5, such as in case of representing the object ID in a 32-bit manner,there is established a unique ID in the whole of the electronicconference system, by providing upper 16 bits with a server ID, andlower 16 bits with an ID which is uniquely assigned to each objects ineach site.

The forum object 50, which defines a forum, contains a name of forum, aname of a person who created this forum, a creation date and anexplaining text, as well as a structural information for defining thehierarchy structure of the forum. The structural information includes anobject ID and another object ID, representing a one-level higher forumobject and the highest-level of forum (main forum) object, respectively.

The message object 52, which defines a message, contains a subject(heading such as “About . . . ”), a name of a person who created thismessage, a creation date and a message text (contents of message), aswell as a structural information for defining the hierarchy structure ofthe message. The structural information includes: an object ID ofone-level higher message object which this message 52 is to reply to;another object ID of a topic object which this message 52 belongs to;and a further object ID of a forum object which this message 52 belongsto.

The user object 54, which defines users of the electronic conferencesystem, contains: client names of the clients 30 which are allowed touse the data base 12; and information such as a password for each of theclients 30 to log on. Thus, when a request for referring to the database12 is issued from the client 30, it can be judged as to whether thisclient 30 is such as authorized to refer to the database 12 or not, bychecking the contents of the user object 54.

The site object 56, which defines a site, contains: client ID'sdesignating those clients 30 which can use the database 12; and objectID's designating other available sites.

Further, each of the forums is registered with a destination-informationwhich defines as to which site the information-exchange is to beconducted with. For example, in case that an information-exchange is tobe conducted between the forum A of the site A and the forum A of thesite B as shown in FIG. 6, the forum A of site A and the forum A of siteB are registered with the site B as the destination-information 58 andthe site A as the destination-information 58, respectively. Thus, aninformation occurred at the site A is transmitted, in the example notedjust above, to the site B, by referring to the registereddestination-information 58 to thereby judge as to which site theinformation is to be transmitted to.

There will be explained hereinafter the operation of the electronicconference system having such a constitution as described above.

There is firstly explained an outline of information-exchange to beconducted between the sites, with reference to a process flow diagram ofFIG. 7. For expediency of explanation, the information-exchange issupposed to be conducted between the site A and site B, in theelectronic conference system shown in FIG. 7.

When the user of the electronic conference system creates, deletes,updates or moves a forum or a message (hereinafter called “object”) atthe client 30 of the site A, its server software 14 functions to performa registration processing to its accompanying database 12,correspondingly to the user's working job to the object (processing(1)). At the same time, the server software 14 retrieves from itsaccompanying database 12 such as an object ID of the object to be worked(processing (2)), creates a command object to be noted later, andregisters this command object to the accompanying command queue 16(processing (3)).

The command object is constituted to contain: a type of operation (suchas creation of object); an object ID representing the informationtransmitter site; an object ID designating a transmittee site as adestination to which the information is to be transmitted; an object IDrepresenting an object to be operated; and an information unique to eachoperation type. Such as in case of move of objects, the “informationunique to each operation” does mean an information representing a moveorigination and a move destination, while in case of creation ofobjects, it does mean an information representing a creation position.

The command object registered in the command queue 16 is taken out fromthis queue 16, by the background which has processing ability to sparein the accompanying server 10 (processing (4)). Then, the body (textsentence, such as in case of message) of object to be processed isretrieved from the accompanying database 12 (processing (5)), ifnecessary, and thereafter the command object and object body(hereinafter called communicative information) are registered into thetransmission queue 18 (processing (6)).

At this time, a “processing for optimizing information” is executed.Namely, this “processing for optimizing information” is a processing tominimize the quantity of information transmission between the sites, byeliminating those command objects registered in the command queue 16which objects do not have any effects eventually.

The communicative informations registered in the transmission queue 18are taken out from the queue 18 at each of a predetermined time ofperiod. Then, the site B is determined as a transmittee or destined sitebased on the command object included in the taken out communicativeinformation, and this communicative information is transmitted to thesite B via the communication line 40 (processing (7)). In this concern,the predetermined time of period may be arbitrarily determined by theadministrator of the electronic conference system, such that thecommunicative informations are transmitted during at midnight or earlyin the morning where the communication line 40 usually has a sufficienttime to spare.

At this time, a “processing for assuring sequence” is executed. Namely,this “processing for assuring information sequence” is a processing foravoiding occurrence of such an inconsistency in the sequence ofinformation transmission, that is caused due to the store-and-forwardtype of communication system.

Meanwhile, the communicative information transmitted from the site Atoward the site B is not immediately processed at the site B, but oncestored into the reception queue 20 in the site B. The communicativeinformation stored in the reception queue 20 is taken out therefrom atthe background of the accompanying server 10 (processing (8)), and aregistration processing to the accompanying database 12 is executedcorrespondingly to the communicative information (processing (9)).

At this time, there are executed such as “judgment processing andcorrection processing of destination inconsistency”, “judgmentprocessing and correction processing of inconsistency in informationcontents”, and “move processing of objects”. Namely, the “judgmentprocessing and correction processing of destination inconsistency” areprocessings for automatically judging and correcting an occurrence ofinconsistency in the destination-information 58 registered in the sitewhich has received the communicative information, respectively. The“judgment processing and correction processing of inconsistency ininformation contents” are processings for automatically judging andcorrecting an occurrence of inconsistency in the contents of theinformation registered in the site which has received the communicativeinformation. The “move processing of objects” is a processing forrendering the objects be correctly moved regardless of the sequence ofinformation transmission in case of moving the objects between thoseforums which have different transmission paths.

Further, in case of occurrence of trouble such as system down due to acertain cause (for example, cut-off of power such as due to powerfailure) in the server 10 of each site, there is performed an update bya recovery disk for recovering the server 10 to the state just beforethe occurrence of trouble. The update of recovery disk itself isperformed at each site: upon creation, deletion, update, or move of theobjects in or to the database 12; or based on the instructions of thesystem administrator. In case of occurrence of trouble such as systemdown, the server 10 is recovered to the state just before the occurrenceof the trouble, such as by the manual operation of the systemadministrator and based on the contents of the recovery disk.

The above explained information-exchange is carried out by thoseprocessings executed by each of the server software 14.

Shown in FIGS. 8 through 12 are those processings which are executed ateach sites, when processing of creation, deletion, update, or move ofobject is requested from the client 30 to the server 10.

FIG. 8 shows a main routine.

At step 1 (abbreviated as “S1” in the figure, and the same rule isapplied to hereinafter), it is judged as to whether the client 30 hasrequested a processing of object creation, or not. If the processing ofobject creation has been requested (Yes), the flow branches to step 10so as to call a sub-routine (see FIG. 9) for performing a creationprocessing of a due object. The flow branches to step 2, if theprocessing of object creation has not been requested (No).

At step 2, it is judged as to whether the client 30 has requested aprocessing of object deletion, or not. If the processing of objectdeletion is requested (Yes), the flow branches to step 20 so as to calla sub-routine (see FIG. 10) for performing a deletion processing of adue object. The flow branches to step 3, if the processing of objectdeletion is not requested (No).

At step 3, it is judged as to whether the client 30 has requested aprocessing of object update, or not. If the processing of object updateis requested (Yes), the flow branches to step 30 so as to call asub-routine (see FIG. 11) for performing an update processing of a dueobject. The flow branches to step 4, if the processing of object updateis not requested (No).

At step 4, it is judged as to whether the client 30 has requested aprocessing of object move, or not. If the processing of object move isrequested (Yes), the flow branches to step 40 so as to call asub-routine (see FIG. 12) for performing a move processing of a dueobject. The flow branches to step 5, if the processing of object move isnot requested (No).

At step 5, it is judged that the processing request is in error, sincethe processing request from the client 30 is not anyone of creation,deletion, update, and move of objects. Further, there is effected anerror treatment such as for indicating to the operator of client 30 thatwhose operation is in error.

FIG. 9 shows a subroutine for performing the creation processing of thedue object.

At step 11, the due object is created in the database 12 at the sitewhich the client 30 belongs to, which client 30 has requested the objectcreation processing.

At step 12, it is judged as to whether the object creation issuccessfully performed or not. If the creation is successful, the flowbranches to step 13 (Yes). If failed, the flow branches to step 14 (No).

At step 13, there is created a command object which designates an objectcreation, and this command object is registered to the command queue 16.

At step 14, there is effected an error treatment such as for indicatingto the operator of client 30 that the object creation has failed.

FIG. 10 shows a subroutine for performing the deletion processing of thedue object.

At step 21, the due object is deleted from the database 12 at the sitewhich that client 30 belongs to, which client 30 has requested theobject deletion processing.

At step 22, it is judged as to whether the object deletion issuccessfully performed or not. If the deletion is successful, the flowbranches to step 23 (Yes). If failed, the flow branches to step 24 (No).

At step 23, there is created a command object which designates an objectdeletion, and this command object is registered to the command queue 16.

At step 24, there is effected an error treatment such as for indicatingto the operator of client 30 that the object deletion has failed.

FIG. 11 shows a subroutine for performing the update processing of thedue object.

At step 31, the due object is updated in the database 12 at the sitewhich the client 30 belongs to, which client 30 has requested the objectupdate processing.

At step 32, it is judged as to whether the object update is successfullyperformed or not. If the update is successful, the flow branches to step33 (Yes). If failed, the flow branches to step 34 (No).

At step 33, there is created a command object which designates an objectupdate, and this command object is registered to the command queue 16.

At step 34, there is effected an error treatment such as for indicatingto the operator of client 30 that the object update has failed.

FIG. 12 shows a subroutine for performing the move processing of the dueobject.

At step 41, the due object in the database 12 is moved at the site whichthe client 30 belongs to, which client 30 has requested the object moveprocessing.

At step 42, it is judged as to whether the object move is successfullyperformed or not. If the move is successful, the flow branches to step43 (Yes). If failed, the flow branches to step 46 (No).

At step 43, it is judged as to whether the object move is to beexclusively performed within a single or sole main forum, or not. If themove is within a single main forum, the flow branches to step 44 (Yes).If not within a single main forum, the flow branches to step 45 (No).

At step 44, there is created a command object which designates an objectmove, and this command object is registered to the command queue 16.This command object, which designates the object move, is added with aninformation which represents a move origination and a move destination.

At step 45, there are created command objects which designate an objectcreation and an object deletion, respectively, and these command objectsare registered to the command queue 16. Namely, the object moveprocessing is substituted by an object creation processing and an objectdeletion processing, so as to avoid such disadvantage to be describedlater. In this concern, the command object, which designates the objectcreation, is added with an information designating a creation positionof the object, i.e., move destination of the object. The command object,which designates the object deletion, is added with an informationdesignating a deletion position of the object, i.e., move origination ofthe object.

At step 46, there is effected an error treatment such as for indicatingto the operator of client 30 that the object move has failed.

According to the above explained processings of FIGS. 8 through 12, whenprocessing of creation, deletion, update, or move of object is requestedfrom the client 30 to the server 10, the contents of processing requestis analyzed to thereby call the subroutine which corresponds toappropriate one of the respective processings. At each of thecorresponding subroutines for executing respective processings, there isexecuted the object processing in a real time manner in the site atwhich the request of object processing has occurred, while a commandobject representing each processing contents is substantiallyconcurrently registered into the command queue 16.

The reason why the move processing is performed in such a manner shownin FIG. 12, is as follows:

As shown in FIG. 13, it is now supposed that a main forum A and a mainforum B have been established in the site A, and a sub-forum C has beenestablished at the lower level of the main forum B. In addition, aninformation transmission path for the main forum A of site A is supposedto be established, so that the information is linearly transmitted tosites B, C, D and E. Further, it is supposed that, for the main forum Bof site A, an information transmission path is established to a site Dvia site B, and another information transmission path is established toa site E via site C.

It is now assumed that the sub-forum C is moved to a lower level of themain forum A. This move of sub-forum C to the lower level of the mainforum A does mean a creation of a sub-forum C for the main forum A.Contrary, this is nothing other than deletion of sub-forum C for themain forum B. Then arises such a situation that the site D istransmitted with both informations, i.e., a creation of sub-forum C byan information via the information transmission path originated from themain forum A, and a deletion of sub-forum C by another information viathe information transmission path originated from the main forum B.

However, the site D is not necessarily transmitted with theseinformations, in the order or sequence of “deletion and creation” of thesub-forum C. As such, if the site D is transmitted with theseinformations in the order of “creation and deletion” of the sub-forum C,the result is that the sub-forum C does not exist in the site D. Due tothis reason, it is not always possible to regard a move of objectbetween forums having different information transmission paths, as beinga move of object. Thus, it is necessary to perform different processingsdepending on as to whether the move is to be performed within a singlemain forum or not.

Shown in FIGS. 14 through 18 are those processings which are executed ateach site, when the command objects are taken out from the command queue16 at the background of the server 10, and registered to thetransmission queue 18. These processings shown in FIGS. 14 through 18are the aforementioned information optimization processing.

FIG. 14 shows a main routine of the information optimization processing.

At step 50, the command objects registered in the command queue 16 arereadout to be spread on the memory. Namely, there is created aduplication of command queue 16 onto the memory.

At step 51, a searching is started from the latest item (“item ” meansthe “command object”, and the same rule is applied to hereinafter) inthe command queue spread onto the memory (hereinafter called “commandqueue on the memory”). Namely, the latest item is considered in thefirst processing loop, and the remaining items are considered one afteranother in the processing loops after the second loop inclusive, in aretroacting manner, or in the older direction or sequence.

At step 52, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating a message deletion, or not. Such a judgment(as well as the judgment on an update of message, a deletion or updateof forum, to be explained later) is performed by checking the type ofoperation included in the command object. If it is a deletion ofmessage, the flow branches to step 60 (Yes) to call a subroutine (FIG.15) for performing a queue processing for message deletion. Contrary, ifit is not a deletion of message, the flow branches to step 53 (No).

At step 53, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating a message update, or not. If it is anupdate of message, the flow branches to step 80 (Yes) to call asubroutine (FIG. 16) for performing a queue processing for messageupdate. Contrary, if it is not an update of message, the flow branchesto step 54 (No).

At step 54, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating a forum deletion, or not. If it is adeletion of forum, the flow branches to step 90 (Yes) to call asubroutine (FIG. 17) for performing a queue processing for forumdeletion. Contrary, if it is not a deletion of forum, the flow branchesto step 55 (No).

At step 55, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating a forum update, or not. If it is an updateof forum, the flow branches to step 110 (Yes) to call a subroutine (FIG.18) for performing a queue processing for forum update. Contrary, if itis not an update of forum, the flow branches to step 56 (No).

At step 56, it is judged as to whether all items included in the commandqueue on the memory have been treated, or not. If all items have beentreated, this routine is terminated (Yes). If all items have not beentreated, the flow goes back to step 50 (No).

FIG. 15 shows a subroutine for performing a command object processingaccording to message deletion to be executed in the processing foroptimizing information.

At step 61, there is executed an initialization for setting a flag to“0”. This flag indicates as to whether the command queue on the memoryis registered with a command object designating a message creation, ornot.

At step 62, from the item next to the item which relates to the messageto be deleted, there is searched for an item having an object IDidentical with that of the message to be deleted. Namely, the item nextto the item related to the deletee message (i.e., message to be deleted)is considered in the first processing loop, and the remaining items areconsidered one after another in the processing loops after the secondloop inclusive, in a retroacting manner.

At step 63, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating a creation of the message, or not. If it issuch a message creation, the flow branches to step 64 (Yes) to set theflag to “1”. If it is not such a message creation, the flow branches tostep 65 (No).

At step 65, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating an update of the same message, or not. Ifit is such a message update, the flow branches to step 66 (Yes) toeliminate, from the command queue 16 on the files, a command objectdesignating the message update. If it is not such a message update, theflow branches to step 67 (No).

At step 67, it is judged as to whether the deletee message is a topic ornot. Such a judgment can be effected by checking as to whether, theobject ID designating an operatee target which is included in thecommand object, is identical with the object ID designating a topicobject, which is included in the message object. The flow branches tostep 68 (Yes) if the deletee target is a topic, or to step 71 if thedeletee target is not a topic (No).

At step 68, there are searched for command objects relating to a message(i.e., “reply”) at the lower level of the deletee “topic”, in thecommand queue on the memory.

At step 69, it is judged as to whether a command object relating to amessage at the lower level of topic has been found or not. If thecommand object relating to such a message is found, the flow branches tostep 70 (Yes) to eliminate this command object relating to such amessage, from the command queue 16 on the files. If a command objectrelating to such a message is not found, the flow branches to step 71(No).

At step 71, it is judged as to whether a treatment up to the final item,i.e., the oldest item in the command queue on the memory, has beencompleted or not. The flow branches to step 72 (Yes) if the final itemhas been treated, but branchingly goes back to the step 62 if the finalitem has not been treated (No).

At step 72, it is judged as to whether the flag is “1” or not, i.e.,whether a command object designating a creation of the message existedin the command queue on the memory or not. If the flag is “1”, the flowbranches to step 73 (Yes), to eliminate the command objects designatingmessage creation and deletion, respectively, from the command queue 16on the files. If the flag is “0” (No), this routine is terminated.

According to those processings at steps 61 through 73 as explainedabove, if the command queue 16 on the files includes a command objectdesignating a message deletion, it can be decided that no affects areeventually made by an update processing for the message to be executedbefore deletion of the message. Thus, by eliminating, from the commandqueue 16 on the files, those command objects designating such messageupdate, the information quantity to be transmitted toward other sites isreduced. Contrary, if any command objects designating message creationare not found in the command queue 16, it can be decided that a creationof the message at issue has been already performed. In this case, it isnot performed to eliminate from the command queue 16 a command objectdesignating a message deletion, to thereby avoid disadvantage. Further,in case that the deletee message is a topic, there are eliminated all ofthe command objects related to those messages (replies) at the lowerlevels of the topic, so that the information quantity to be transmittedtoward other sites is further reduced.

FIG. 16 shows a subroutine for performing a queue processing accordingto message update to be executed in the processing for optimizinginformation.

At step 81, in the command queue on the memory, from the item next tothe item which relates to the message to be updated, there are searchedfor those items, each of which has an object ID identical with that ofthe message to be updated, and which designates a message update.Namely, the item next to the item related to the updatee message isconsidered in the first processing loop, and the remaining items areconsidered one after another in the processing loops after the secondloop inclusive, in a retroacting manner.

At step 82, it is judged as to whether a command object designating anupdate of the message has been found or not. If the command objectdesignating the message update is found, the flow branches to step 83(Yes) to eliminate this command object designating the message update,from the command queue 16 on the files. If a command object designatingsuch a message update is not found, the flow branches to step 84 (No).

At step 84, it is judged as to whether a treatment up to the final item,i.e., the oldest item in the command queue on the memory has beencompleted or not. This routine is terminated (Yes) if the final item hasbeen treated, but the flow branchingly goes back to the step 81 if thefinal item has not been treated (No).

According to those processings at steps 81 through 84 as explainedabove, except for the latest command object designating a messageupdate, the remaining command objects designating the update of the samemessage are eliminated from the command queue 16 on the files. Namely,even if a plurality of processings for updating a certain message havebeen performed, the pertinent forum can be updated to the latestcontents by the latest command object only. As such, by eliminatingthose command objects from the command queue 16 which objects do nothave any effects eventually, the quantity of information to betransmitted to other sites can be reduced.

FIG. 17 shows a subroutine for performing a command object processingaccording to forum deletion to be executed in the processing foroptimizing information.

At step 91, there is executed an initialization for setting a flag to“0”. This flag indicates as to whether the command queue on the memoryis registered with a command object designating a forum creation, ornot.

At step 92, in the command queue on the memory, from the item next tothe item which relates to the forum to be deleted, there is searched foran item having an object ID identical with that of the forum to bedeleted. Namely, the item next to the item related to the deletee forumis considered in the first processing loop, and the remaining items areconsidered one after another in the processing loops after the secondloop inclusive, in a retroacting manner.

At step 93, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating a creation of the forum, or not. If it issuch a forum creation, the flow branches to step 94 (Yes) to set theflag to “1”. If it is not such a forum creation, the flow branches tostep 95 (No).

At step 95, it is judged as to whether the currently considering item isa command object designating an update of the forum, or not. If it issuch a forum update, the flow branches to step 96 (Yes) to eliminate,from the command queue 16 on the files, a command object designating theforum update. If it is not such a forum update, the flow branches tostep 97 (No).

At step 97, there is searched for a command object relating to a messageincluded in the deletee forum, in the command queue on the memory.

At step 98, it is judged as to whether a command object relating to amessage included in the deletee forum has been found or not. If thecommand object relating to the message included in the deletee forum isfound, the flow branches to step 99 (Yes) to eliminate this commandobject relating to the message, from the command queue 16 on the files.If a command object relating to the message is not found, the flowbranches to step 100 (No).

At step 100, it is judged as to whether a treatment up to the finalitem, i.e., the oldest item in the command queue on the memory has beentreated or not. The flow branches to step 101 (Yes) if the final itemhas been treated, but branchingly goes back to the step 92 if the finalitem has not been treated (No).

At step 101, it is judged as to whether the flag is “1” or not, i.e.,whether a command object designating a creation of the forum existed inthe command queue on the memory or not. If the flag is “1”, the flowbranches to step 102 (Yes), to eliminate the command objects designatingforum creation and deletion, respectively, from the command queue 16 onthe files. If the flag is “0” (No), this routine is terminated.

According to those processings at steps 91 through 102 as explainedabove, if the command queue 16 on the files includes a command objectdesignating a forum deletion, it can be decided that no affects areeventually made by an update processing of the forum to be executedbefore deletion of the forum. Thus, by eliminating, from the commandqueue 16 on the files, those command objects designating such forumupdate, the information quantity to be transmitted toward other sites isreduced. Contrary, if any command objects designating creation of theforum are not found in the command queue 16, it can be decided that acreation of the forum at issue has been already performed. In this case,it is not performed to eliminate from the command queue 16 a commandobject designating a forum deletion, to thereby avoid disadvantage.Further, a deletion of forum does mean a deletion of those messagesincluded in this deletee forum. Thus, by eliminating command objectsrelated to such messages, the information quantity to be transmittedtoward other sites is further reduced.

FIG. 18 shows a subroutine for performing a queue processing accordingto forum update to be executed in the processing for optimizinginformation.

At step 111, in the command queue on the memory, from the item next tothe item which relates to the forum to be updated, there is searched foran item, which has an object ID identical with that of the forum to beupdated; and which designates an update of the forum. Namely, the itemnext to the item related to the updatee forum is considered in the firstprocessing loop, and the remaining items are considered one afteranother in the processing loops after the second loop inclusive, in aretroacting manner.

At step 112, it is judged as to whether a command object designatingsuch a forum update has been found or not. If the command objectdesignating the forum update is found, the flow branches to step 113(Yes) to eliminate this command object designating the forum update,from the command queue 16 on the files. If a command object designatingsuch a forum update is not found, the flow branches to step 114 (No).

At step 114, it is judged as to whether a treatment up to the finalitem, i.e., the oldest item in the command queue on the memory has beencompleted or not. This routine is terminated (Yes) if the final item hasbeen treated, but the flow branchingly goes back to the step 111 if thefinal item has not been treated (No).

According to those processings at steps 111 through 114 as explainedabove, except for the latest command object designating a forum update,the remaining command objects designating the update of the forum areeliminated from the command queue 16 on the files. Namely, even if aplurality of processings for updating a certain forum have beenperformed, the pertinent forum can be updated to the latest contents bythe latest command object only. As such, by eliminating those commandobjects from the command queue 16 which objects do not have any effectseventually, the quantity of information to be transmitted to other sitescan be reduced.

Thus, according to the processing for optimizing information shown inFIGS. 14 through 18, the quantity of information to be transmitted toother sites can be remarkably reduced without any disadvantageconcerning information transmission, resulting in a drastic improvementin transmission efficiency.

FIG. 19 shows a processing for assuring an information sequence, to beexecuted when the communicative information is taken out and transmittedin each of the sites.

At step 120, there is initialized a control table. Namely, the controltable is registered with those sites which the information could not betransmitted to, such as due to trouble of the communication line 40 atthe time of transmission.

At step 121, one of the command objects is read out from thetransmission queue 18, to obtain a transmittee-destination forspecifying a destination. Concerning this reading out of commandobjects, the latest item is read out in the first processing loop, andthe remaining items are read out one after another in the processingloops after the second loop inclusive, in a retroacting manner, or inthe older direction or sequence.

At step 122, it is judged as to whether the obtained destination isregistered in the control table or not. The flow branches to step 126(Yes) if the destination is registered in the control table, and to step123 (No) if the destination is not registered in the control table.

At step 123, the communicative information is transmitted viacommunication line 40 toward the destination obtained from the commandobject.

At step 124, it is judged as to whether the transmission has failed ornot. If the transmission has failed, the flow branches to step 125 (Yes)to register the failed destination into the control table. Contrary, theflow branches to step 126 (No), if the transmission has succeeded. It isnoted that the communicative information of failed transmission is notdeleted from the transmission queue 18, and its transmission is triedagain in the next processing.

At step 126, it is judged as to whether all of the command objects inthe transmission queue 18 have been treated or not. This routine isterminated if all of the command objects have been treated (Yes), butthe flow branchingly goes back to step 121 if all of the command objectshave not been treated (No).

According to the above explained processing of steps 120 through 126,there are registered those destinations, the communicative informationtransmission to which have failed, into the control table. Further, forthose destinations to which the transmissions have failed, thecommunicative informations are not transmitted and not deleted from thetransmission queue 18. Thus, even in case that the communicativeinformation has not been transmitted such as due to trouble of thecommunication line 40, the sequence of informations is assured, to avoidoccurrence of disadvantage. As an additional effect, no transmissionsare performed during the current transmission processing, toward thosedestinations in which communication errors have occurred. Thus, uselesstransmissions can be omitted, attaining reduction in occupancy time ofthe communication line 40. Those communicative informations, which havenot been transmitted during the current processing, are tried to betransmitted in the next processing after lapse of a predetermined timeof period. This is because, such as trouble of the communication line 40may be recovered by the lapse of the predetermined time of period.

FIGS. 20 through 23 show those processings which are executed when oneof the communicative informations is taken out from the reception queue20 at the background of the server 10 at each site.

FIG. 20 shows a main routine.

At step 130, one of the communicative informations is taken out from thereception queue 20.

At step 140, there is called a subroutine (FIG. 21) for performing aprocessing for checking destination inconsistency.

At step 150, there is called a subroutine (FIG. 22) for performing aprocessing for checking inconsistency in information contents.

At step 170, there is called a subroutine (FIG. 23) for performing aregistration processing to the database 12.

FIG. 21 shows the subroutine for performing the processing for checkingdestination inconsistency.

At step 141, there are analyzed those objects ID's which are included inone communicative information taken out from the reception queue 20, tothereby obtain a transmitter site and a treatee forum (forum to betreated).

At step 142, it is checked as to whether the transmitter site obtainedat step 141 exists in the destination-information for the treatee forumregistered in the database 12, or not.

At step 143, there is performed a branching processing. Namely, thisroutine is terminated if the transmitter site exists in thedestination-information of the treatee forum (Yes). Contrary, the flowbranches to step 144 if the transmitter site does not exist in thedestination-information for the treatee forum (No).

At step 144, the transmitter site obtained at step 141 is additionallyregistered into the destination-information for the treatee forumregistered in the database 12. It is possible, together with thisprocessing, such as to indicate to the client 30 that an inconsistencyhas occurred in the destination so that the administrator of theelectronic conference system can recognize the occurrence ofinconsistency, at an early stage.

The processings at steps 141 through 143 correspond to the destinationinconsistency judgment device, process and function. Further, theprocessing at step 144 corresponds to the destination inconsistencycorrection device, process and function.

According to the processings at steps 141 through 144 as explainedabove, automatically performed based on the communicative informationare the inconsistency judgment and inconsistency correction ofdestination-information, even when an inconsistency has occurred in thedestination-information at a certain site due to a certain reason. Thus,there is avoided an occurrence of such a situation that the informationto be transmitted is not transmitted. As a result, the reliability ofthe electronic conference system can be considerably improved.

FIG. 22 shows a subroutine for performing a processing of inconsistencycheck for information contents.

In this respect, inconsistency in information contents occurs such as inthe following cases. It is now assumed that the electronic conferencesystem is constituted of sites A, B, C, D and E. Further, there areconsidered the information transmission paths in which the informationsare transmitted from the site A to the site C via the site B, and fromthe site A to the site E via the site D, respectively. In this case,there may occur such a situation that the database 12 at the site D isrecovered based on a recovery disk, but the database 12 returns, due tooldness of the recovery disk, to a state in which the site E is notregistered as an information-exchange-destination of the site D. Then,the information is not transmitted from the site D to the site E.However, it is likely that the users of the site E do not find out thatthe information is not transmitted, resulting in failure of transmissionof important information.

Thus, it is attained to improve the reliability of the electronicconference system, by automatically judging and correcting an occurrenceof inconsistency in information contents, making use of inconsistencycheck processing for information contents, to be explained hereinafter.

At step 151, by analyzing the appropriate object ID included in thecommunicative information taken out from the reception queue 20, it isjudged as to whether the processing is a forum creation, or not. Thisroutine is terminated if it is the forum creation (Yes), but the flowbranches to step 152 if it is not a forum creation (No).

At step 152, there is obtained an object ID of a treatee forum, byanalyzing object ID's included in the communicative information whichhas been taken out from the reception queue 20. Namely, there isperformed a processing such as creation or update of objects, for theforum which is designated by the obtained object ID of the forum.

At step 153, it is judged as to whether the treatee forum exists in thedatabase 12, or not. The flow branches to step 155 if the forum exists(Yes), or to step 154 if the forum does not exist (No).

At step 154, it is judged as to whether the object ID of treatee forumexists in the deletion information to be explained later, or not. Thisroutine is terminated if the object ID of forum exists in the deletioninformation (Yes). If the object ID of forum does not exist, it isjudged that an inconsistency has occurred in the information contents,so that the flow branches to step 162 (No).

The deletion information is an information for specifying a deletedobject, in case that a deletion treatment of object is performed for thedatabase 12 of a certain site. Concretely, a deletion information iscreated on the database 12, and registered with an object ID forspecifying the deleted object. In case that the object ID of the treateeforum exists in the deletion information, the forum has been deletedbefore information transmission thereto from other sites. Thus, it canbe judged that no inconsistency in information has occurred. The sameconsideration can be adopted, in case that the treatee target is amessage.

At step 155, by analyzing the appropriate object ID included in thecommunicative information taken out from the reception queue 20, it isjudged as to whether the processing is a topic creation, or not. Thisroutine is terminated if it is the topic creation (Yes), but the flowbranches to step 156 if it is not a topic creation (No).

At step 156, there is obtained an object ID of a treatee topic, byanalyzing the appropriate object ID included in the communicativeinformation taken out from the reception queue 20.

At step 157, it is judged as to whether the treatee topic exists in thetreatee forum, or not. The flow branches to step 159 if the topic exists(Yes), or to step 158 if the topic does not exist (No).

At step 158, it is judged as to whether the object ID of treatee topicexists in the deletion information, or not. This routine is terminatedif the object ID of topic exists in the deletion information (Yes). Ifthe object ID of topic does not exist, it is judged that aninconsistency has occurred in the information contents, so that the flowbranches to step 162 (No).

At step 159, there is obtained an object ID of a “parent message of thetreatee message” (hereinafter merely called “parent message”), byanalyzing an appropriate object ID included in the communicativeinformation taken out from the reception queue 20.

At step 160, it is judged as to whether the parent message designated bythe obtained parent message ID exists in the treatee forum, or not. Thisroutine is terminated if the parent message exists (Yes), or the flowbranches to step 161 if the parent message does not exist (No).

At step 161, it is judged as to whether the object ID of treatee parentmessage exists in the deletion information, or not. This routine isterminated if the object ID of parent message exists in the deletioninformation (Yes). If the object ID of parent message does not exist, itis judged that an inconsistency has occurred in the informationcontents, so that the flow branches to step 162 (No).

At step 162, there is obtained an object ID designating a transmittersite, by analyzing the appropriate object ID included in thecommunicative information. Further, there is obtained the whole oftreatee forum from the transmitter site, by specifying the transmittersite based on the obtained object ID.

At step 163, there is conducted an update registration of the database12, while merging the forums registered in the database 12 with theforum obtained from the transmitter site.

According the above explained processings at steps 151 through 163, itis judged that an inconsistency has occurred in the informationcontents, if the treatee target object designated by the communicativeinformation is not registered in the database 12 and does not exist inthe deletion information, in case that the treatment content is not aforum creation nor topic creation. If it is judged that an inconsistencyin the information contents has occurred, there is obtained the whole offorum from the transmitter site and there is conducted an updatetreatment for the database 12 together by mergence, to thereby correctthe information contents. Thus, an inconsistency in the informationcontents can be automatically judged and corrected, so that thereliability of the electronic conference system can be also improved.

FIG. 23 shows a subroutine for performing a registration processing tothe database.

At step 171, there is obtained a type of operation (classification ofcreation, deletion, update or move of object; the same rule appliescorrespondingly to the following), by analyzing the appropriate objectID included in the communicative information taken out from thereception queue 20.

At step 172, it is judged as to whether the operation type is an objectcreation, or not. The flow branches to step 173 if it is the objectcreation (Yes), or to step 179 if it is not an object creation (No).

At step 173, it is judged as to whether the createe object alreadyexists in the database 12, or not. The flow branches to step 174 ifalready exists (Yes), or to step 178 to create the object if not existsyet (No).

At step 174, there is retrieved an ID of parent object of the createeobject, from the database 12.

At step 175, the retrieved parent object ID is compared with the parentobject ID included in the communicative information, i.e., creationinformation.

At step 176, it is judged as to whether the retrieved parent object IDis identical with the parent object ID included in the communicativeinformation, or not. This routine is terminated if the parent objectID's are identical with each other (Yes), but the flow branches to step177 if the parent object ID's are not identical (No).

At step 177, there is performed an object move processing. Namely, inthis object move processing, the createe object, which already exists,is moved to a lower level of the parent object designated by thetransmitted creation information.

At step 179, it is judged as to whether the operation type is a deletionof object, or not. The flow branches to step 180 if it is the objectdeletion (Yes), or to step 184 if it is not an object deletion (No) toexecute a processing corresponding to the operation type.

At step 180, there is obtained an ID of parent object of the deleteeobject, from the database 12.

At step 181, the obtained parent object ID is compared with the parentobject ID included in the communicative information.

At step 182, it is judged as to whether the obtained parent object ID isidentical with the parent object ID included in the communicativeinformation, or not. The flow branches to step 183 if the parent objectID's are identical with each other (Yes), to perform an object deletion.Contrary, this routine is terminated while neglecting the commandobject, if the parent object ID's are not identical (No).

According to the above explained processings of steps 171 through 184,even in case of an object move between forums having informationtransmission paths different from each other, the object deletion andthe object creation are executed at the move origination of the objectand at the move destination of the object, respectively. As a result,regardless of the sequence of information transmission, the object movecan be assuredly carried out.

FIG. 24 shows an update processing for a recovery information.

At step 190, there is obtained a type of operation, by analyzing theappropriate object ID included in the communicative information takenout from the reception queue 20.

At step 191, it is judged as to whether the operation type is an objectcreation, or not. If it is the object creation (Yes), the flow branchesto step 192 to record, to a recovery disk, an object ID designating acreatee object, and a destination-information designating itsinformation-exchange-destination. The flow branches to step 193, if itis not an object creation (No).

At step 193, it is judged as to whether the operation type is an objectdeletion or not. If it is the object deletion, the flow branches to step194 (Yes) to delete from the recovery disk: the object ID designatingthe deletee object; and the destination-information designating itsinformation-exchange-destination. If it is not an object deletion (No),this routine is terminated.

According to the above explained processings at steps 190 through 194,the update of recovery disk is performed whenever such as an objectcreation is effected onto the database 12, so that the recovery disk iscontinuously kept at the latest state. In this concern, the recoverydisk is recorded with not an object body itself but an object ID whichdesignates such an object body, so that the update of recovery disk isquickly carried out. Thus, the response speed of the electronicconference system is never decreased.

In this embodiment, the update of recovery disk is executed wheneversuch as creation of object is performed to the database 12. However, itis possible that the update of recovery disk is executed according toinstructions such as of the administrator of the electronic conferencesystem, as will be described later. Further, it is advisable that therecovery disk is to be prepared in a manner physically different fromthe disk which constitutes the database 12.

FIG. 25 shows an update processing of the recovery disk. This updateprocessing of recovery disk is executed such as by the instructions ofthe administrator of electronic conference system.

At step 200, there are searched for all of the forums registered in thedatabase 12.

At step 201, there are obtained those destinations which areinformation-exchange-destinations of the searched forums, and thoseobject ID's, which designate these forums. Further, the obtaineddestinations and object ID's are registered into the recovery disk.

At step 202, there are searched for all of the messages included in thesearched forums.

At step 203, the object ID's designating all of the searched messagesare registered into the recovery disk.

According to the processing at steps 200 through 203 as explained above,upon update instructions such as from the administrator of theelectronic conference system, there are recorded into the recovery disk,the destinations and object ID's of forums and the object ID's ofmessages included in the forums which are registered in the database 12.Namely, the recovery disk is recorded with not the true bodies ofobjects but the object ID's designating the objects, so that the updateof recovery disk can be quickly carried out. Thus, regardless of thequantity of information, the administrator of the electronic conferencesystem is allowed to conduct the update of recovery disk at appropriatetime points, to thereby keep it at the latest state.

FIG. 26 shows a recovery processing of the database 12. This recoveryprocessing of database 12 is executed such as by the instructions of theadministrator of electronic conference system.

At step 210, there is searched for the ID of forum registered in therecovery disk.

At step 211, there are read out ID's of destinations which areinformation-exchange-destinations recorded in the recovery disk, andthere is connected to the site which is specified by the read out ID ofdestination. Namely, in case that the ID's of destinations of forum Aare the sites A and B, there is connected to the site A or to the siteB. The connectee site may be determined such as in view of the vacancyor availability of the communication line 40.

At step 212, there are obtained all of the objects included in the forumsearched for at step 210, from the connected site.

At step 213, there are deleted, from the obtained objects, those objectswhich are not registered in the recovery disk.

At step 214, it is judged as to whether all of the ID's of forumsregistered in the recovery disk have been processed or not. This routineis terminated, if all of the ID's of forums have been processed (Yes).Contrary, the flow branchingly goes back to step 210 to repeat theprocessings of steps 210 through 213, if all of the ID's of forums havenot been processed (No).

According to the processing at steps 210 through 214 as explained above,upon instructions to conduct a recovery of the database 12 such as fromthe administrator of the electronic conference system, there is obtainedthe whole of the required forum from other site via communication line40. Further, there are deleted, from the obtained forums, those objectswhich are not registered in the recovery disk. This is because, thereremains such a possibility that an operation at a certain site is notreflected to other site, due to the adoption of the store-and-forwardtype of communication system.

Based on the above, the database can be rapidly recovered to the stateat the time of update of the recovery disk, i.e., the state just beforethe occurrence of trouble.

The recovery processing of the database 12 may be executed such that theobjects included in a forum are obtained from other site after creatingthe forum based on the information registered in the recovery disk.

If those programs, which attain each of the above explained functions,respectively, are recorded in a medium such as paper card (punch card),paper tape, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, magnetic drum, IC card, orCD-ROM, it becomes possible to distribute the destination inconsistencyjudgment program and destination inconsistency correction programaccording to the present invention. Then, those, who have obtained sucha medium, can constitute a destination inconsistency judgment apparatusand a destination inconsistency correction apparatus, making use of ageneral electronic computer, without any burden.

What is claimed is:
 1. A destination inconsistency judgment apparatus ina store-and-forward type of electronic conference system in whichexchangee-informations are exchanged, making use of a store-and-forwardtype of communication system, between information administrating meanswhich administrate various informations, respectively, the informationexchange being conducted based on those destination-informationsdesignating information-exchange-destinations whichdestination-informations are preserved in the information administratingmeans, wherein said exchangee-information to be exchanged between saidinformation administrating means includes a transmitter-informationdesignating the information administrating means which transmitted theexchangee-information, and said apparatus comprises destinationinconsistency judgment means for judging, based on saiddestination-information and said transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in said destination-information or not. 2.A destination inconsistency judgment apparatus in a store-and-forwardtype of electronic conference system of claim 1, wherein saiddestination inconsistency judgment means is constituted to judge that aninconsistency has occurred in said destination-information, when saiddestination-information is inconsistent with saidtransmitter-information.
 3. A destination inconsistency judgmentapparatus in a store-and-forward type of electronic conference system ofclaim 1, wherein said information administrating means is constituted toinclude information storing means for storing various informations andinput-output control means for controlling input-and-output ofinformation to and from said information storing means.
 4. A destinationinconsistency correction apparatus in a store-and-forward type ofelectronic conference system in which exchangee-informations areexchanged, making use of a store-and-forward type of communicationsystem, between information administrating means which administratevarious informations, respectively, the information exchange beingconducted based on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating means, wherein saidexchangee-information to be exchanged between said informationadministrating means includes a transmitter-information designating theinformation administrating means which transmitted theexchangee-information, and said apparatus comprises destinationinconsistency judgment means for judging, based on saiddestination-information and said transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in said destination-information or not,and destination inconsistency correction means for correcting saiddestination-information, based on said transmitter-information, whensaid destination inconsistency judgment means has judged that aninconsistency has occurred in said destination-information.
 5. Adestination inconsistency correction apparatus in a store-and-forwardtype of electronic conference system of claim 4, wherein saiddestination inconsistency judgment means is constituted to judge that aninconsistency has occurred in said destination-information, when saiddestination-information is inconsistent with saidtransmitter-information.
 6. A destination inconsistency correctionapparatus in a store-and-forward type of electronic conference system ofclaim 4, wherein said destination inconsistency correction means isconstituted to add, as said destination-information, a destinationdesignating the information administrating means which is designated bysaid transmitter-information.
 7. A destination inconsistency correctionapparatus in a store-and-forward type of electronic conference system ofclaim 4, wherein said information administrating means is constituted toinclude information storing means for storing various informations andinput-output control means for controlling input-and-output ofinformation to and from said information storing means.
 8. A destinationinconsistency judgment method in a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system in which exchangee-informations are exchanged, makinguse of a store-and-forward type of communication system, betweeninformation administrating processes which administrate variousinformations, respectively, the information exchange being conductedbased on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating processes, wherein saidexchangee-information to be exchanged between said informationadministrating processes includes a transmitter-information designatingthe information administrating process which transmitted theexchangee-information, and said method comprises a destinationinconsistency judgment process for judging, based on saiddestination-information and said transmitter-information, as to whetheran inconsistency has occurred in said destination-information or not. 9.A destination inconsistency judgment method in a store-and-forward typeof electronic conference system of claim 8, wherein said destinationinconsistency judgment process is constituted to judge that aninconsistency has occurred in said destination-information, when saiddestination-information is inconsistent with saidtransmitter-information.
 10. A destination inconsistency correctionmethod in a store-and-forward type of electronic conference system inwhich exchangee-informations are exchanged, making use of astore-and-forward type of communication system, between informationadministrating processes which administrate various informations,respectively, the information exchange being conducted based on thosedestination-informations designating information-exchange-destinationswhich destination-informations are preserved in the informationadministrating processes, wherein said exchangee-information to beexchanged between said information administrating processes includes atransmitter-information designating the information administratingprocess which transmitted the exchangee-information, and said methodcomprises a destination inconsistency judgment process for judging,based on said destination-information and said transmitter-information,as to whether an inconsistency has occurred in saiddestination-information or not, and a destination inconsistencycorrection process for correcting said destination-information, based onsaid transmitter-information, when said destination inconsistencyjudgment process has judged that an inconsistency has occurred in saiddestination-information.
 11. A destination inconsistency correctionmethod in a store-and-forward type of electronic conference system ofclaim 10, wherein said destination inconsistency judgment process isconstituted to judge that an inconsistency has occurred in saiddestination-information, when said destination-information isinconsistent with said transmitter-information.
 12. A destinationinconsistency correction method in a store-and-forward type ofelectronic conference system of claim 10, wherein said destinationinconsistency correction process is constituted to add, as saiddestination-information, a destination designating the informationadministrating process which is designated by saidtransmitter-information.
 13. A medium recorded with a destinationinconsistency judgment program in a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system in which exchangee-informations are exchanged, makinguse of a store-and-forward type of communication system, betweeninformation administrating functions which administrate variousinformations, respectively, the information exchange being conductedbased on those destination-informations designatinginformation-exchange-destinations which destination-informations arepreserved in the information administrating functions, wherein saidexchangee-information to be exchanged between said informationadministrating functions includes a transmitter-information designatingthe information administrating function which transmitted theexchangee-information, and said medium is recorded with a program forrealizing a destination inconsistency judgment function for judging,based on said destination-information and said transmitter-information,as to whether an inconsistency has occurred in saiddestination-information or not.
 14. A medium recorded with a destinationinconsistency judgment program in a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system of claim 13, wherein said destination inconsistencyjudgment function is constituted to judge that an inconsistency hasoccurred in said destination-information, when saiddestination-information is inconsistent with saidtransmitter-information.
 15. A medium recorded with a destinationinconsistency judgment program in a store-and-forward type of electronicconference system of claim 13, wherein said information administratingfunction is constituted to include an information storing function forstoring various informations and an input-output control function forcontrolling input-and-output of information to and from said informationstoring function.
 16. A medium recorded with a destination inconsistencycorrection program in a store-and-forward type of electronic conferencesystem in which exchangee-informations are exchanged, making use of astore-and-forward type of communication system, between informationadministrating functions which administrate various informations,respectively, the information exchange being conducted based on thosedestination-informations designating information-exchange-destinationswhich destination-informations are preserved in the informationadministrating functions, wherein said exchangee-information to beexchanged between said information administrating functions includes atransmitter-information designating the information administratingfunction which transmitted the exchangee-information, and said medium isrecorded with a program for realizing a destination inconsistencyjudgment function for judging, based on said destination-information andsaid transmitter-information, as to whether an inconsistency hasoccurred in said destination-information or not, and a destinationinconsistency correction function for correcting saiddestination-information, based on said transmitter-information, whensaid destination inconsistency judgment function has judged that aninconsistency has occurred in said destination-information.
 17. A mediumrecorded with a destination inconsistency correction program in astore-and-forward type of electronic conference system of claim 16,wherein said destination inconsistency judgment function is constitutedto judge that an inconsistency has occurred in saiddestination-information, when said destination-information isinconsistent with said transmitter-information.
 18. A medium recordedwith a destination inconsistency correction program in astore-and-forward type of electronic conference system of claim 16,wherein said destination inconsistency correction function isconstituted to add, as said destination-information, a destinationdesignating the information administrating function which is designatedby said transmitter-information.
 19. A medium recorded with adestination inconsistency correction program in a store-and-forward typeof electronic conference system of claim 16, wherein said informationadministrating function is constituted to include an information storingfunction for storing various informations and an input-output controlfunction for controlling input-and-output of information to and fromsaid information storing function.
 20. A store-and-forward electronicconference computer system, comprising: information administratorscomprising a programmed processor to communicate with other informationadministrators, to register and use destination information, whichdesignate information-exchange-destinations, to exchange between theadministrators in a store-and-forward manner exchangee-information,which comprise transmitter information that designate informationadministrators that transmit the exchangee-information, to judge aninconsistency in the registered destination information based on theregistered destination information and the transmitter information uponreceipt of the exchangee-information, and to correct the registereddestination information based on the transmitter information.